Thorn McKnight: A tragic past
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: This story has been written for talarose18, as part of her quidditch and Enemy houses story. It is the life of Thorn McKnight, before she went to Hogwarts, I hope you enjoy and thank you talarose18 for letting me write this story :)


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the OC in this story.

"Mummy?" Thorn asked as she ate breakfast at the table.

"Yes, sweetheart." Her mother answered.

"Can I go to Red's tomorrow? It's her birthday and she invited me." Thorn explained beaming at her mother.

Thorn's mother couldn't help but smile in response. "You'll have to ask your father, sweetheart."

"Okay." Thorn smiled and went back to eating her breakfast.

Suddenly a boy and girl quite a few years older than Thorn, came running down the stairs.

"Give it back!" The girl screeched. "Mum, Bal stole my hair brush and he won't give it back!"

"I did no such thing!" The boy, Bal, answered a picture of innocents.

He sat down at the table beside Thorn and discretely handed her the hair brush under the table. Thorn giggled at the look on her sister's face as she turned to glare at their brother.

"What?" Bal asked, as he began eating his breakfast. "I don't have it! Why would I even want it? It's covered it girl germs!"

"Mum…" The girl whined, turning back to their mum.

Their mum just rolled her eyes. "Bal give Luna her hairbrush back and Luna stop whining and eat your breakfast!"

"But he stole my hair brush!" Luna exclaimed.

"And he'll give it back to you, unless he wants to be grounded for a week. Now eat your breakfast or I'll feed it to the dog!"

Luna glared at her brother and sat down at the table and began eating her breakfast.

"I hate you, I hope you know that!" She all but growled at her brother.

Bal just grinned at her, before turning his attention to Thorn. "I heard its Red's birthday tomorrow. Get her any cool presents?"

Thorn grinned at her brother. "Yeah, mummy took me shopping at Diagon alley last week, I got her this amazing book!"

Bal rolled his eyes. "Not everyone likes books as much as you, Thorn. I swear you're going to be in Ravenclaw if you're not careful!"

Thorn frowned. "What's wrong with Ravenclaw?"

"Your right," Bal answered. "It could be worse you could be in Hufflepuff like Luna."

"Hey!" Luna exclaimed as Thorn giggled.

"For a Hufflepuff you sure have a bad temper," Bal muttered. "Are you sure you got sorted into the right house?"

"I'm only bad tempered because I have to put up with an idiot brother like you!" Luna exclaimed, getting to her feet and storming out the room, no doubt to owl her friends about how annoying her brother was.

Their mother just shook her head with found amusement. Children would be children.

"Mummy, what house were you in?" Thorn asked.

"I was in Gryffindor, sweetheart." Her mum answered.

"Yeah, like me." Bal added, ruffling Thorn's hair.

"What about daddy?" Thorn questioned.

Their mum sighed. "Your daddy is a squib, sweetheart, you know what that means?"

Thorn nodded. "Yeah, a person who is born into a magical family but has no magic."

"Ravenclaw." Bal coughed into his hand.

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It was the morning of Red's birthday and Thorn was more than excited. She held her friend's birthday present tightly in her hands, as she all but jumped up and down on the spot waiting for her dad to finish reading the morning paper and get his coat.

"Come on, daddy, we're going to be late!" Thorn exclaimed.

"Calm down, sweetheart." Her mum smiled. "You two have plenty of time yet."

Her dad chuckled from his place at the table. "I promise we'll get there on time, pumpkin."

"Yeah, _pumpkin_ ," Bal teased, as joins their father at the table. "I don't know what you're so excited about, if I was Red I'd never speak to you again, if you gave me a book for my birthday!"

Thorn turned to her mother wide eyed. "What if she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?"

"Bal, stop teasing your sister," Their mum scolds Bal lightly. "I'm sure she'll love the book and you're her best friend, it take a bit more than a book to make her change her mind."

Thorn turned and stick out her tongue at her older brother. Bal simply returns the gesture, before looking down at his breakfast which had magically appeared in front of him.

"What is this?!" He demanded, holding up a spoonful.

"It's porridge, Bal." Their dad answered.

"What? Has Luna eaten all the cereal again?" Bal asked.

Their dad rolled his eyes. "You better not let her hear you say that."

"Let me hear what?" Luna asked appearing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Did you eat all the cereal again?" Bal asks, unafraid.

"Why you little-"Luna exclaimed.

"Luna!" Their dad exclaimed, cutting her off. "That is no way for a young lady to speak."

"Who said she was a lady?" Bal asked. "Have you seen her eating at the table?!"

Thorn giggled and their mum rolled her eyes, whilst their dad glanced towards the heavens and Luna's eyes turned murderous. It was true Gryffindor's were so brave, it turned suicidal.

"Right lets go, pumpkin," Their dad said getting up. "Let's get out of here before they start throwing spells."

Thorn frowned. "But they can't use magic outside of school."

"Like that's ever stopped them before." Their dad sighed.

"Bye, mummy."

"Bye, sweetheart and have fun." Their mum answers giving her youngest daughter a hug.

"Bye, Luna. Bye, Bal." Thorn smiled.

"Bye, little sis." Both Bal and Luna answered, having paused in the middle of their scuffle on the floor to say goodbye to their little sister.

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Thorn run down the hallway dodging around Red's mother and embracing her friend.

"Hi, Red." Thorn greeted. "Happy birthday!"

"Hey Thorn." Red answers, returning the embrace.

"Here, I got you a present." Thorn explained holding out a neatly wrapped package, as the two split apart.

Red smiled at Thorn taking the present. "Thanks."

Thorn watched nervously, as Red tore the wrapping paper from the book. Red stared at the book in her hands, her eyes wide as she started at the cover.

"Do you like it?" Thorn asked nervously, remembering what her brother had told her.

"I love it!" Red exclaimed. "It's the best present ever!"

Thorn grinned. "I chose it myself."

"Thank you." Red embraced her friend.

"Now, why don't you two go play outside for a while?" Red's mother spoke up from behind them. "You wouldn't want to waste this lovely weather stuck indoors now, would you?"

"No, mother." Red answered at the same time Thorn replied. "No, madam."

"Here, I'll take the book and put it away while you two go have fun." Red's mother smiled taking the book from Red and shooing them out the door into the garden.

"What do you want to play first?" Thorn asked, as she looked round the garden.

It was huge! It was far larger than the garden she had back at home. The lawn was perfectly cut and trees surrounded the garden, whole wild flower grew in the flowerbeds on the opposite side of the garden.

"Let's play hide and seek." Red answered. "I get to hide first!"

"Fine." Thorn sighed. "One… Two… Three…"

As Thorn began to count, Red run off to find a hiding place. From one of the windows Red's mother watched them with a small smile, reminiscing about her own childhood.

"Eighteen… Nineteen… Twenty! Ready or not here I come." Thorn yelled turning around and beginning her search for Red.

It only took her a couple of minutes to find her friend, who had claimed up a tree towards the back of the garden. It was a place Thorn was familiar with, they often climbed that tree together. Plus when she played hide and seek with her brother, he had always told her to hide up high, hardly anyone ever looked up.

"Found you!" Thorn called up to her friend.

Red looked down at her and grinned, before jumping out the tree and landing beside her.

"Your turn, Thorn." Red shut her eyes. "One… Two… Three… Four…"

Thorn run across the garden, searching for a hiding place. She smiled to herself as she spotted the perfect place to hide.

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"Mum!" Luna screamed, as Thorn's unconscious form appeared on the floor in the living room.

"What, honey?" Their mum called from upstairs.

"It's Thorn!" Luna yelled back. "Something happened to her!"

The sound of running feet sounded on the stairs and seconds later, their mum appeared in the doorway and rushed over to her youngest daughter.

"Thorn, sweetheart can you hear me?" Their mum questioned.

Thorn didn't make a sound or show any sign of waking up.

"Is she okay mum?" Luna asked, panic creeping into her voice.

"She'll be fine, Luna." Thief mum answered. "She just unconscious. She breathing fine and doesn't appear to be in any sort of pain. What happened?"

"I don't know!" Luna exclaimed. "She just appeared in the middle of the floor like that! At first I thought she was dead!"

Suddenly Thorn eyes flickered open. "Mum?"

"Sweetheart, oh thank the gods." Their mum answered, pulling Thorn into a tight embrace, which Luna quickly joined.

"Why am I here, mum?" Thorn asked, when their mum and Luna finally let go of her.

"I don't know, sweetheart." Their mum answered. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Me and Red were playing hide and seek," Thorn answered. "I was bidding when this man appeared, he had a mask on. He was a death eater, mum, like the daddy reads about in the paper. He cast a spell at Red's mum, it was bright green… It was the killing curse wasn't it, mum? Then he turned to me, he cast a different spell, it was a different colour. It was really painful, then I was back here."

Their mum shut her eyes. "I think it's time we moved."

"Why?" Luna asked.

"We're no longer safe here." Their mum answered. "As soon as your dad gets home, we're moving. My sister will let us stay at her place until we sort something out. Come on, you need to get ready."

"Mum…" Thorn began.

"There's no time to explain, sweetheart." Their mum answered. "Just stay here and rest for a moment."

Thorn nodded and slowly moved over to the sofa, her whole body ached. Lying down, she shut her eyes. She hoped that Red was okay.

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Thorn was woken up by an ear splitting scream. It had been a year and a half since they had moved, Thorn had written countless letters to Red but had got no reply. In the end she had been forced to stop, her mum had claimed it wasn't safe.

Sitting up in bed, Thorn glanced round, trying to work out what had woken her. There was a crash from downstairs and Thorn quickly got to her feet. She edged slowly towards her bedroom door and pulled it open slowly.

The hallway outside of her room was completely dark, it was a new moon, so no moonlight shone through the window. Gulping, Thorn entered the hallway. Another crash sounded form downstairs and the sound of someone cursing.

Thorn didn't recognise the voice. She turned and slowly made her way towards her parents' bedroom, being careful not to step on any of the creaky floor boards. She turned the handle and let the door swing open.

Both her parents were still fast asleep, she quickly made her way over to them.

"Mum." Thorn whispered, shaking her mum's shoulder. "Mum, wake up!"

"What is it sweetheart?" Her mum asked.

"There's someone downstairs." Thorn answered.

A third crash echoed through the house and Thorn's mum was out of bed and reaching for her wand in a second.

"Stay here, sweetheart." Her mum answered, waking her dad. "I'll go and sort it out."

Thorn quickly joint her dad on the bed as her mum left the room. "Will mum be okay, dad?"

Her dad nodded. "Your mother will be fine, pumpkin."

A sudden flash lights up the stairs and the hallway.

"Get out of here!" Thorn's mum's voice suddenly echoes up the stairs." Take Thorn and get out of here."

Thorn's dad quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her towards one of the wardrobes. He opened the door and pushed on the back panel, it opened to reveal a staircase.

"What about mum?" Thorn asked, refusing to follow her dad.

"She'll catch up with us." Her dad answered. "Now come on, pumpkin, we need to go."

"What about Bal and Luna?"

"They'll follow us now come on!"

Thorn quickly followed her father down the steps, finally they come to a door. Her father quickly pushed it open and they step out into the back garden. Laying on the grass is Bal, his eyes open but unseeing.

"Bal!" Thorn screamed and made to run towards him, but her dad grabbed her shoulders and dragged her away.

As the two of them run, Thorn couldn't stop the tears that run down her cheeks. Her brother was dead.

Suddenly a bright green light sails past her and hits her father square in the back, he falls to the ground.

"Dad!" Thorn shrieks, falling to her knees beside him.

The sound of footsteps behind her, made her blood run cold and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"My, my, what do we have here? If it isn't the youngest McKnight." A voice sneered, sending goosebumps down her arms.

Slowly Thorn looked round from her fathers' body and looked at the man and women who stood before her. The women nada crazy black hair and a twisted smile, while the man's whole appearance gave of a sinister vibe.

Both of them raised their wands and Thorn slowly got to her feet, she wasn't going to die on her knees in the dirt, because they after all were going to kill her. The man smirked.

"I'm going to enjoy killing you, McKnight." He sneered.

Thorn took a stuttering breath and shut her eyes, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

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Mrs Wood placed a bowl as steaming hot porridge on the table in front of Thorn, who just stared at it. Across the table, her cousin Oliver pulled a face, while Mr Wood didn't even bat an eyelid. Mrs Wood was good at many things, but making porridge was not one of them.

Thorn slowly stirred the bowl with her spoon, but she didn't feel like eating. Her dad, her brother and her sister were all dead. A fire had destroyed her home and her mum was currently at Saint Mungos, after duelling the two death eaters and saving her life.

"Hurry up and eat up," Mrs Wood spoke up. "We're leaving in half an hour."

"I'd be a lot quicker, of this didn't taste like cardboard." Oliver muttered and he forced himself to swallow a spoonful.

Mrs Wood glared at her son. "Just eat it, Oliver."

"Yes, mum." Oliver answered, rolling his eyes.

Thorn almost smiled as she was reminded of her family at breakfast. He dad had always told her it was the most important time of the day. It was the only chance they had to all sit down together and eat.

Thorn looked down at her porridge and tears rolled down her cheeks. She missed her family.

"Somehow I don't think tears are going to make that porridge taste any better," Oliver snapped her out of her musing. "Sugar on the other hand…"

He held out a bowl of sugar, a small smile on his face. Thorn quickly accepted the bowl with a nod of thanks, before looking back down at her breakfast. Oliver was cool. He jade helped her out a lot over the last couple of weeks.

They were the same age too, meaning they'd be going to Hogwarts together, if they both got accepted. Thorn was sure Oliver would be in Gryffindor, he reminded her too much of Bal for him nor to be.

"Auntie," Thorn suddenly spoke up. "Is it okay if I get some new books?"

Mrs Wood looked up. "Of course."

Thorn smiled. She was going to probe her brother right. She was going to be in Ravenclaw. She was going to learn everything and she was going to make her family proud.

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I hope you enjoyed that story.

Blessed be,

TreeOfLife1997.


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